Passion
The poem is, on its face, an exploration of intense romantic passion. It opens with a profession of feeling, a desire to share "wild nights" with an unnamed individual. In the middle portion, it shifts to descriptions of a ship on rough seas. This appears to be a metaphor for both the passion between the speaker and the beloved and the turbulence of the search for reciprocal feelings. The final stanza brings the two threads together, imagining their eventual relationship as a rowboat finding safe harbor. One of the most interesting aspects of this portrayal of passion is its turbulence. From its open to its close, the poem depicts a state of love and intimacy that is perpetually marked by intensity and uncertainty.
Nature
As with much of Dickinson's work, this poem uses nature to frame its central themes. In this specific work, there are references to the ocean and sea travel. These natural elements serve as both a depiction of romantic uncertainty and a barometer for the intensity of the relationship the speaker has with their beloved. In showing the instability of treacherous waters, the speaker is showing the instability of their attraction. However, in the final stanza, the speaker describes the sensation of rowing to port as a kind of "Eden." By referencing this idyllic space, the Biblical garden of Eden, they are portraying the very act of this search for another as beautiful. In this way, nature (or "wildness") takes on an unusual role in the text. The journey into the arms of the beloved reads as harrowing, but that very intensity seems inherent to the relationship itself. It appears as if, like the chaos inherent to nature, this feeling is inextricable from the speaker's idea of their love.
Solace
While the poem's concept of desire is complex and heady, its endpoint is fairly direct. In its third stanza, the poem concludes on an image of finding contentment in the heart of another. The speaker expresses a desire to "moor" in the addressee of the poem. While this verb plays on the earlier mentions of maritime terms, it also has a more literal connotation. The speaker wants to be with their beloved, comforted and understood. The beloved is painted as a respite, a source of solace after a perilous journey. Again, while the speaker's desire is powerful and complicated, their concluding note suggests that the highest form of romantic love is one of wholeness, finding an individual who feels like home.
